


The Seeds of Grief

by Lamia of the Dark (VisceraNight)



Series: Puella Magi ☆ Integra Magica [3]
Category: Hellsing, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Drama, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Gen, Magical Girls, The Hellsing/Madoka Magica Crossover That No One Asked For
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 17:43:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18287162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VisceraNight/pseuds/Lamia%20of%20the%20Dark
Summary: During the Valentine Brothers' attack on Hellsing HQ, Alucard has a very difficult time not revealing his true identity to the Round Table as he impersonates Integra, Integra nearly experiences the Despair Event that Kyubey had given up on ever pushing her toward, and Seras is the one who finally asks Kyubey a question that most people never think to ask.





	The Seeds of Grief

~ The Seeds of Grief ~

By necessity, Walter and Seras were in on the secret. Walter had a hard time believing what he was told about Kyubey, being unable to perceive the creature with his own senses. However, the fact that Integra's body had not aged at all in the past ten years was impossible to deny. And her lich state had also been proven to him - an experience which he  _never_  wanted to repeat in his life.

The butler now carried with him at all times an "emergency kit" which consisted only of a small velvet-lined hardwood box whose contents he could not perceive, which he'd been told would be vital to Integra's survival if her "soul gem" became "contaminated". He wasn't quite sure what that meant  _exactly_ , and had not asked for further explanation. Hopefully they would never be in a situation dire enough for him to need to administer the contents of that box.

Another thing which Walter despised the necessity of were the times when Alucard and Integra were forced to switch roles, as was necessary today, with Alucard shifting form to play an adult version of Integra for the Round Table conference, while Integra played the vampire, pretending to have taken a form resembling her younger self.

The switch was in no danger of being discovered by the other Round Table members, because the idea of it was so entirely beyond ridiculous that none of them would ever think of such a thing.

Or so the Hellsing butler thought... until a massive ghoul invasion sent their little corner of the world spiraling into hell.

Locked in the conference room with the Round Table, Alucard was helpless to provide any defense against the invasion, as his main duty at the moment - his  _master's order_  - was for him to maintain the role of Sir Hellsing and absolutely not allow the Round Table to find out that he was Alucard, and the one out there fighting the ghouls, using magical powers that should be reserved only for combat against the so-called 'witches' was the real Integra.

Witches had been thin on the ground lately. Kyubey had been going farther and farther afield to recruit new magical girls, in other areas with higher witch activity. They still held a few Grief Seeds in reserve for emergencies, but Integra really shouldn't have been using her powers when they had so few resources left to remove the darkness that tainted her soul gem during battles.

The little white alien hadn't spent much time at the Hellsing estate lately, so Alucard was surprised to hear its awkwardly cute voice near his ear suddenly.

"Your vampire teeth are starting to show," it pointed out helpfully.

He forced his expression into something... less like the feral snarl that had appeared on his - well, technically  _Integra's_  - face. None of the other knights could see the creature.

 _Did any of them notice?_  he asked it telepathically.

"No," Kyubey replied.

The vampire struggled to hold his transformation, when with every fiber of his being he longed to be out there in the battle, to fight for and protect his master... or at least do more to aid the battle than remotely offer telepathic advice to his skittish fledgling.

Taking down the vampire brothers was simple enough. They weren't nearly as tough as the witches that Integra had fought - no match for her magical scythe, which could kill anything it cut, no matter how glancing a blow it might be. Clearing out the army of ghouls they'd brought with them was another task altogether. She didn't stop to wonder why the ghouls hadn't collapsed upon the deaths of their makers. She would file that question away for later.

With support from Walter and Seras, Integra cleared the ghouls from the mansion. It was only once they were in the hallway outside the conference room and she recognized the faces of the moaning corpse-creatures that were shambling toward her, that she realized her soldiers had been killed in the attack and turned into ghouls themselves.

Walter and Seras both saw the moment that Integra  _broke_  and the shining gem on the silver cross pinned to her cloak was flooded with inky black tendrils.

Walter immediately withdrew the small wooden box from his pocket and shoved it into Seras's hand, trusting that she would know what do with the item inside, and threw himself into the pack of ghouls to keep them away from his lady and the young vampire.

Not bothering with the tiny latch, Seras merely crushed the box in her fist, and dropped the splintered wood and velvet cloth to the ground, then tapped the Grief Seed against Integra's soul gem. The darkness flowed out of the gem, leaving it a pure shining blue, and the seed pulsing with shadows that seemed ready to overflow its bounds.

Seras was momentarily startled as Kyubey appeared on her shoulder to consume the used-up Grief Seed.

Even with the darkness 'healed' from her soul gem, Integra's anguish still remained, and tears poured down her face as she stared at the remains of the Hellsing soldiers which littered the hallway. Unable to stand seeing her upset, Seras scooped the girl up into her arms. Integra buried her face against Seras's shoulder and sobbed.

Kyubey was still perched on Seras's other shoulder, and it was at this point that she thought to ask it, "What would have happened if we weren't able to purify her soul gem in time?"

"She would have turned into a witch."

(And now Kyubey had the knowledge of what would lead to Integra's Despair Event, which it had given up on finding out years ago, and spent more time away creating other magical girls in other places.)

Hearing this revelation, fury swept through Alucard - a rage deeper than any he'd ever felt before - yet somehow he managed to hold onto his form, keeping up the image of the adult-Integra (who would never truly exist), until after the Round Table members had left.

Once they had left and he was back in his own form, he confronted the alien.

"Why didn't you tell us that before?"

"You never asked."

~oOo~


End file.
